Haggi Avni
Haggi was born to Pnina and Amotz Avni in Be'eri fifty years ago, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah 1973.
He was the second child – the younger brother to Adi and older brother to Yahel. After his father remarried, he had three step-siblings – Omri, Ayelet, and Chenni, and two half-siblings – Dandan and Sahar. Chenni, Haggi’s next-door neighbor was also murdered on October 7, together with his wife Rinat and their children Allon and Ido.
Pnina met Amotz in Beit Govrin, where kibbutz members came to help new settlements. She joined him in Be'eri where they built their home. Shmulik, Haggi’s grandfather, was among the founders of Be'eri. The two had a special bond that continued into the next generation. Haggi was a handsome boy – and a handful. A good boy with a heart of gold. He always volunteered for everything. He loved sports, especially basketball. He was surrounded by friends. In school he dealt with dyslexia and ADD, in the days when such disorders were unknown and were not treated. His father was often called to school to calm him down. As he grew older, he learned to deal with these difficulties and was loved by all.
Haggi was drafted when he was 18, and served as a combat soldier in the armored infantry. When on duty in Judea and Samaria, and the soldiers were required to enter civilians’ home, he would not let anyone hurt them. Later he served in an elite intelligence unit and was stationed in Lebanon. He concealed his whereabouts from his mother, not wanting to worry her. It was only years later that he told her what he had been through: One day, when they were distributing rations to the units, his AMC got stuck and no one noticed. His commanding officer continued his rounds and Haggi remained behind. Fortunately, he saw a Lebanese man approaching and, of course, managed to convince the man to help him out, and even bring help to get the vehicle moving. He always managed to get out of trouble.
Following his military service, Haggi went to Eilat, where he was a successful scuba-diving instructor. It was there, at the Dolphin Reef, that he exhibited his sensitivity by identifying people afraid of water and diving, helping them overcome their fears and difficulties and emerging empowered with a sense of success. Adi also worked at the reef, where she was editing films about marine life. While diving and teaching, Haggi also sent messages that somehow found their way to Adi. They fell in love, became a couple, and married three years later. They lived in Eilat, then moved to Tel Aviv. They traveled to the Far East and Mexico. They returned to Be'eri a year after their wedding.
When they settled on the kibbutz, Haggi worked in the printing house. But the closed quarters and fluorescent lights didn’t agree with him. He loved the land and preferred working in the open air, and this led to "Hagigi", the gardening and event-designing business he established. He loved this work and woke up each morning with a smile on his face. He designed most of the yards and gardens in Be'eri and created the sets for all the holiday celebrations. He bought old carts and wagons, refurbished them, and turned them into flower beds, placing them all over the kibbutz. His handiwork was everywhere. When the kibbutz was being plagued by the incendiary balloons launched from Gaza, Haggi was the first to go and extinguish the fire in the burning fields.
Haggi and Adi’s love was a great one. They complemented each other and raised a wonderful family. Their firstborn, Reef, was born in 2005, and he was followed by Yam (2006), Bar (2009), Gev (2012) and Ileel (2015).
Haggi was an exemplary family man, able to foster each child’s talent and abilities. Reef is a photographer, and the two of them traveled all over Israel, especially to the Dead Sea. They even went to Iceland for 10 days of photography. Yam is an actor and participated in plays staged by the Beer Sheva Theater. Haggi came to every performance, never missing a show. He also came to every soccer game in which Bar and Gev played, cheering them on and supporting them.
He said that Ileel was the gift that the family received after four boys. He adored her.
The family loved traveling together and going on picnics. They went on a two-and-a-half-month trip to Thailand and India. Adi was the planner. All the rest was Haggi’s domain. Spontaneous and flowing, he befriended the locals and led the family on their adventures.
Haggi was special - very creative. He was always the first to volunteer and fulfill any request. He’d bring home junk and turn it into art. His creative style and his aesthetics as gardener and event designer were evident and left his imprint of endless generosity. Their house, at the edge of the Kerem neighborhood, was open to friends, neighbors, pre-army volunteers, soldiers – everyone felt free to come, enjoy each other’s company over chilled watermelon, a stack of waffles, or a barbeque. He’d pamper you whenever he could. He was known as “Haggi will do it.” Whatever the occasion, be it funeral, wedding, holidays, Haggi did it. He was essential to any and all productions, always having that magic touch that smoothed out the rough edges. He was never in the limelight, always behind the scenes, efficient and modest.
On his fiftieth birthday, Haggi was in Iceland with Reef, capturing the northern lights. This meant that the party was postponed until he got back. On Friday, October 6, the whole family got together to celebrate.
The sirens wailed the next morning. The shooting began. Haggi, shoes in hand, ran outside, calling back to Adi to lock the door. He was part of the preparedness unit and never thought twice – he went to fight for his home.
Wounded, he managed to call Adi and say goodbye. Haggi defended the land he loved, bravely sacrificing himself.
May his memory be a blessing.
